Novel carbazole derivatives with quinoline ring: Synthesis, electronic transition, and two-photon absorption three-dimensional optical data storage

•Novel carbazole derivatives containing quinoline were synthesized.•Electronic transition of carbazole derivatives were theoretically studied by TD-DFT.•Two-photon absorption of compounds was measured by 120 fs pulse at 800 nm.•7-layer data storage was realized by two-photon 3D optical data storage system.

We designed carbazole unit with an extended π conjugation by employing Vilsmeier formylation reaction and Knoevenagel condensation to facilitate the functional groups of quinoline from 3- or 3,6-position of carbazole. Two compounds doped with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films were prepared. To explore the electronic transition properties of these compounds, one-photon absorption properties were experimentally measured and theoretically calculated by using the time-dependent density functional theory. We surveyed these films by using an 800 nm Ti:sapphire 120-fs laser with two-photon absorption (TPA) fluorescence emission properties and TPA coefficients to obtain the TPA cross sections. A three-dimensional optical data storage experiment was conducted by using a TPA photoreaction with an 800 nm-fs laser on the film to obtain a seven-layer optical data storage. The experiment proves that these carbazole derivatives are well suited for two-photon 3D optical storage, thus laying the foundation for the research of multilayer high-density and ultra-high-density optical information storage materials.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide